JACKSON, Miss. – Jackson State University has hired Vivian Fuller as its first female athletic director.
University President Carolyn Meyers introduced Fuller at a news conference on Wednesday.
The 56-year-old Fuller replaces Bob Braddy.
“I’m excited to be a Tiger,” Fuller said. “Jackson State has such a long and proud tradition. I look forward to honoring that tradition and helping our student athletes be the best they can be.”
The daughter of a North Carolina sharecropper, Fuller has spent eight years at Sojourner-Douglass College, where she is dean of the Cambridge, Md., campus.
She also has been an athletic director at University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Tennessee State University and Northeastern Illinois University.
A pioneer in promoting women’s sports, Fuller served as a member of the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force.
“Vivian Fuller’s leadership skills, along with her experience as an athlete, academician, and director of athletics at three institutions, make her the best choice for Jackson State University at this time,” said Meyers. “I’m very confident that she will be able to lead our athletics programs to prominence, ensuring that JSU student-athletes succeed on the field or court as well as in the classroom.”
